Nia Jax vs. Sasha Banks: Winner and Reaction for WWE Royal Rumble 2017

Nia Jax defeated Sasha Banks on Sunday at the Royal Rumble in a bout born from one of WWE's most heated rivalries.

WWE provided a look at the finish:

After losing the Raw Women's Championship to Charlotte in an epic 30-minute Iron Man match at Roadblock: End of the Line in December, Banks was nursing a knee injury, which Jax took advantage of by attacking her on Raw.

Despite the ailment, The Boss made her return during a No. 1 Contender's match between Jax and Bayley. The playing of Banks' music distracted Jax enough to cause her to lose the match, which added more intensity to their feud.

Jax got some revenge on the former champ by jumping her during a conditioning drill. Banks was testing her injured knee in an attempt to get cleared for in-ring action, but Jax did everything in her power to prevent that from happening.

Even so, Banks came back for more the following week, hitting Jax multiple times with her crutch and laying her out with a suicide dive.

That only served to anger Jax:

Despite the massive challenge standing in front of her, Banks remained defiant and confident that she would conquer her opponent at the Rumble:

Although Banks had many battles with Charlotte in a back-and-forth program, Jax arguably stood as her biggest challenge to date.

While Banks is a natural heel and played the role nearly to perfection in NXT, she has been utilized as a face for most of her run on the main roster.

She has had mixed success from a character-development perspective, but facing Jax could help her immensely.

The size difference between them automatically gives The Boss crowd sympathy, and the fact that Jax has been preying on Banks and her injury helps in terms of building an underdog aura.

That made for a great dynamic at the Rumble, which is often lacking in undercard matches.

Jax and Banks showed good chemistry, and the potential is there for a long-term feud. But Jax struck the first blow Sunday.

She was still in search of her first big victory on the main roster entering the Royal Rumble, but now that Jax has a win over Banks on her resume, she is beginning to build a case for Raw Women's Championship contention.

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